AFGHANISTAN POTENTIAL BASE FOR PAK-BACKED TERRORISM: THAROOR

Former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said Afghanistan could become a base for Pakistan-backed terrorism and India needs to be extremely vigilant regarding the Taliban crisis.

“There’s going to be a base (in Afghanistan) for very hostile Pak-backed terrorist elements targeting us and potentially a larger recruitment base, a source of fighters who could come & attack us. So we’ll have to watch the situation incredibly carefully,” he told reporters on Tuesday. Tharoor, who served as the former secretary-general of the United Nations, added, “I’m not sure if Pakistan should be 100% happy that these guys (Taliban) have come to power, not everyone who has come to power is necessarily going to be pro-Pak. The situation is incredibly dangerous, certainly for us.”

Meanwhile, national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) CT Ravi on Tuesday said that India should adopt Israel’s counter-terrorism strategy then the country would be safe.

While speaking to media, CT Ravi said that it is painful to see that a terrorist organisation has captured a nation. The senior BJP leader said that the Taliban is backed by Pakistan and also has the support of China.

“According to me, we should adopt Israel’s counter-terrorism strategy then our country would be safe,” Ravi said.

“There is a possibility that they may come to India. Hence there is a need to think seriously. There is also a possibility that the Taliban will trigger terrorism in Kashmir. Not only this they may also provoke Khalistan supporters but the Central Government has a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and will ensure 100 per cent of the safety for the nation,” he added.

Meanwhile, due to the change in power in Afghanistan, the future of around 130 soldiers training in different academies of Indian defense forces is uncertain at the moment, informed the sources in the Army on Tuesday.

As part of the capacity building program, The Indian defense forces have been training Afghan cadets and soldiers for more than a decade now in different military skills at its academies and thousands of Afghan National Army soldiers have received training here in India, sources in the Army said. “The future of these soldiers and cadets is uncertain. It is not yet clear whether they would be allowed to return to their country or what they would do when they return as the power is now in the hands of the Taliban Army against whom they were supposed to fight after joining their organization,” sources further said.

The highest number of Afghan students are in the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun with 80 cadets while the remaining 50 are in the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai and National Defense Academy Khadakwasla, according to the sources.

Afghanistan’s government collapsed on Sunday with President Ashraf Ghani leaving the country and the Taliban’s entry into the capital, according to media reports.

They seized the presidential palace, and several countries evacuated their diplomatic personnel from the region.

Panic gripped the Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and hundreds of people on Monday flocked to the airport in an attempt to leave the violence ridden region.